Three teams in race for second spot

WITH Clontarf winning the title over the weekend the battle for the second promotion spot is on with Dolphin, Bective and Skerries all in with a chance.

After a poor first half against Greystones at Musgrave Park, Dolphin upped the pace early in the second half and tries from Paul Buckley and Richie Power in the space of a minute had them on the road 16 a comfortable 33-12 win.

That result means Dolphin's destiny lies in their own hands and, if they beat Malone at Gibson Park next week, they will win promotion.

Malone have moved to 12 points following their 27-15 win over Monkstown at Sydney Parade. The visitors laid the foundations of their victory early in the first half when Richard Mackey, Scott Carroll and Stuart Duncan all crossed for tries in the space of seven minutes.

Bective and Skerries, who are both on 16 points, have to rely on results elsewhere going their way if they are to gain promotion. Bective face UCC at Donnybrook and while that looked attractive a few weeks back it's not now.

FCC have been busy putting a string of wins together and have moved up to fifth place. They led Sunday's Well 21-0 early in the second half of their match at The Mardyke and though the visitors came back at them, the students, with Peter Stringer and John O'Mahony to the fore, were well worth their 28-19 win.

Skerries also face mid-table opposition next week with a game against DLSP in Kilternan. They completed their second full season without defeat at Holmpatrick with a very comfortable 23-8 win over Wanderers.

DLSP are also enjoying a good run at the moment and thanks to the accurate place-kicking of Tommy James, they scored a solid 22-17 win over NIFC at Ormeau.

In the relegation zone three teams are struggling to avoid the drop, but only one will stay up. Highfield recorded only their second win of the season with a 25-13 win over fellow strugglers City of Derry. They face Cork rivals Sunday's Well next week.